Daniel Hardy

This weekend I decided it was time to try an upgrade to Hardy.  Usually I just back everything up and do a fresh install as it tends to be faster and have less problems.  But in the interest of checking out how the experience is improving I decided I would update my quad-core.

Overall it went better than expected.  The quad-core made quick work of the install, completing in about an hour and a half.  After the reboot there was a few problems to take care of.

First up is a known bug with 8xxx series Nvidia cards and Compiz.  Basically all the drop shadows are pink and/or yellow in color.  Needless to say this is a bit annoying.  To fix it simply create a new symlink by entering the following code into your terminal.

sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/nvidia/libwfb.so.xserver-xorg-core /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libwfb.so

After this all you need is to restart Xserver with CRTL+ALT+BACKSPACE. Of course make sure you have properly closed any open applications that might suffer data loss.

The other mildly annoying piece is the upgrade of Avant Window Manager (AWN). It appears that the version in the repository isn’t directly compatible with the plugins of yore and there is no plugins available from the repository. For now I have decided to live with out the plugins.

Besides these minor problems that where related to either 3rd party apps (AWN wasn’t in the repository in Gusty) or proprietary drivers (come on Nvidia, open it up! everyone is doing it) the install went very well.  With today’s announcement I think Hardy may be staying on the quad-core for a long time to come.

Ubuntu has released the successor to Gusty Gibbon (7.10), Hardy Heron (8.04).  While they are known for having some of the fastest servers on the block there is something about millions of people trying to download 700MB files at the same time that just brings them to a crawl
Be patient and enjoy!

A few weeks ago I wrote a brief post about the newest version of Ubuntu, 8.04 (Hardy Heron).  The post consisted of my first impressions of the new system and really looked at the surface level enhancements.  After giving it some thought I decided to revisit the topic from a different perspective.  Is it worth upgrading?

With each new version of Ubuntu the reason to upgrade is diminished.  This is because the operating system continues to grow stronger and stronger making each consecutive version have less and less added value.  This is not to say there isn’t several good reasons to risk the headaches that could ensue.

The first reason that comes to mind is the improved overall experience.  A lot of work has gone into smoothing out the details of the operating system.  One area that I have noticed a great improvement is in the boot process.  In previous versions the boot process has been choppy with several different resolution changes that make the whole thing seem disjointed and a bit jarring.  In hardy this has been smoothed out a great deal (at least on my Sony Vaio).  Now instead of having several noticeable transitions between resolutions and background colors you get a smooth transition where the colors are better matched and appear to transition smoothly.

Another great enhancement comes again during the boot process.  Every 30 or so boots Ubuntu will scan your disk drive for errors.  While this is great feature as it provides a level of data security, it can be a bit annoying when you are in a hurry.  In Hardy Heron the user has the ability to bypass this by simply pressing the ESC key.

Once the system has booted up you will see the familiar menu options and applications.  You don’t have to look deep to see a couple of new faces such as Transmission (BitTorrent Client) and Brasero (disk burning utility).  These two offer a great upgrade to their predecessors with improved usability and increased functionality.

Another feature that I have found handy is the ability to “Bookmark” web based drives and server connections.  This is a nice touch as it allows you to unmount the drive with out loosing the settings.  For someone who uses several different network drives and is a little OCD about their desktop this is a great feature.  To utilize it simply select the “Add Bookmark” check box the first time you connect to your drive.  From then on you can access the drive from the “Places” menu or the “Bookmarks” area of Nautilus.

Better hardwareware support is something to strongly consider when upgrading.  If you have any problem hardware typically an upgrade offers an opertunity to get support as the kernel is always adding new drivers.  In my previous post I mentioned a problem with my network card.  This has been resolved and was simply a problem in the beta level software.  One thing I do enjoy is with the new update my system runs completely open.  I no longer have to depend on any closed source drivers (Thank you Intel for open sourcing the 3945 driver).  To many this may be marginal but I believe in open source software and try to use it when it is available.  It also typically means better support and performance.

The final reason for upgrading is to have a Long Term Support (LTS) version.  These versions will recieve support form Cannonical for 3 years meaning you won’t need to upgrade for quite sometime.

Overall I think the upgrade is worth it for me, afterall I have my Home directory on a separate partition so even a full install isn’t to much work

The upcoming Ubuntu release, Hardy Heron had its first beta release today and I decided to take it for a spin.  Overall there is a lot of improvements to the user experience and the product continues to grow at great rates.  As with any beta software try it at your own risk.   Here are some more thoughts form the first hour of use.

The good

• Smoother boot… the screens blend together with out the jarring resolution changes
• Love the new background used on the GDM and desktop.  I think this is the best one yet
• Theme in general is a lot more polished
• Love the package manager icon in the task bar that lets you know when it is being used.
• Firefox 3 is fantastic
• System Monitor looks 100x better
• Avant Window Navigator is in the Repository
• “Add to Panel” redesign is great

The bad

• A change in the Intel 3945 wireless driver prevented me from connecting to a hidden SSID network.  I had to set the SSID to visible to connect.  After the first connection I was able to turn it off again.
• 3D doesn’t seem to work as smooth on my 945 graphics
• The initial install had a large increase in idle memory footprint.  This is mostly because of several new features that are probably pretty handy for most users.  Idle was about 325Mbs. (I have eliminated several items I don’t use and it is down to 285Mb)

The ugly

•  Firefox 3 is blends with the operating system… I miss the old look and when a theme is available, I will be adding it.
• I would have liked to see more advancements in the general theme for this release but it just did not make it in time.